Coles: Nature, History and Special Experiences
Accommodation in Coles
Coles combines impressive natural surroundings with regional history and a variety of excursion destinations. Those choosing a holiday apartment or holiday home for their stay can focus their trip on wooded ridges, river landscapes, historic sites and cultural experiences. Fox Ridge State Park, south of Charleston in eastern Illinois, is particularly diverse.
Experience Nature: Trails, Valleys and River Landscapes
Fox Ridge State Park covers 2,064 acres and is known for steep wooded ridges, broad valleys and challenging hiking trails. Its trail system extends for eight miles and consists of ten interconnected trails. This allows you to plan your stay in different ways: you can explore the landscape on individual trails or make the park the focus of an active day. This puts varied scenery and challenging hikes at the heart of a visit.
The surrounding area also offers a special perspective from the water. Two canoe launches in Fox Ridge State Park make a five-mile trip on the Embarras River possible. The Embarras River Land and Water Reserve, located in southeastern Coles County three miles south of Charleston and within Fox Ridge State Park and the Embarras River Resource Rich Area, protects upland forests, bottomland forests, a moderately flowing river and successional areas. There is also canoe access to the Embarras River there.
For a more relaxed choice of trail, consider the Warbler Ridge Conservation Area. The protected area covers more than 1,000 acres of natural land. The approximately four-mile easy trail begins at Bypass Road and ends at Daileyville Road. The Douglas-Hart Nature Center offers another contrast, with two miles of well-maintained trails. These are ADA-accessible and suitable for strollers. The nature center encompasses 65 acres of original Illinois habitats, including prairie, woodland and wetlands.
History and Culture as a Second Travel Focus
Coles is not only a destination for days spent in nature. The Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site preserves the 19th-century home of Thomas Lincoln and Sarah Bush Lincoln. The site also includes a working historic farm and the historic farmstead of Stephen and Nancy Sargent, which was relocated to the site. This makes it possible to combine an excursion with specific insights into the region’s past.
The Tarble Arts Center is a teaching museum on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. Those interested in regional heritage can find the artifacts and collections of the Coles County Historical Society in the mezzanine of the depot in Mattoon. The Lincoln Prairie Grass Trail runs between the two locations and connects Mattoon and Charleston.
More Ideas for Planning Your Trip
The Coles County Fair was founded in 1854 and is the oldest continuously held fair in Illinois. For motorsport enthusiasts, Coles County Speedway is one of the oldest dirt-track facilities in the Midwest. Its track features a 1/8-mile dirt/clay oval. Lake Charleston has hiking and cycling trails, allowing you to add another outdoor activity to your day’s plans.
To find your way between nature, history and culture, you can also include Charleston and Mattoon in your travel plans. When choosing your accommodation, the main deciding factor is therefore which type of experience you want to define your stay: more challenging trails and canoe trips, easy nature trails, historic sites, museums, or events and sports. Coles offers several clearly distinct reasons to visit, without requiring you to limit yourself to just one type of holiday.
For the overarching travel overview: Illinois.
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